12 charged in county check scam

Twelve people have been charged with conspiracy and grand theft in a long-running fraud that bilked a San Diego County mental-health provider out of more than $400,000.

The misconduct was discovered in late 2012 by employees at Mental Health Systems, a nonprofit that provides therapy, diversion and other services to needy families on behalf of San Diego County.

Mental Health Services was ordered to repay the county $368,568 in invalid billings and $39,008 in disallowed costs.

According to the 12-count felony complaint filed this week, a former administrative assistant falsified records that resulted in checks being issued to her friends and family members.

Marquitta Wilson, 29, began forging records during her second week on the job in April 2011 by creating a vendor request for a $1,475 check payable to Ricky Allison, the complaint alleges.

Wilson, who no longer works for the nonprofit, included instructions stating “Do NOT mail checks — give to Marquitta at Families Forward,” records show.

Over the next year and a half, Wilson falsified more than 50 additional vendor requests, many of which directed payments of $8,000 or $9,000 to her friends and relatives, the complaint states.

Wilson did not return messages seeking comment.

Mental Health Systems discovered the alleged fraud in December 2012 and alerted county health officials, who opened an investigation that was eventually referred to San Diego police.

County health officials did not respond to questions about why their own compliance program failed to uncover the alleged thefts. A spokesman said the pending charges prevent him from discussing the case.

With 1,060 employees and about $80 million in annual revenue, Mental Health Systems is one of the biggest nonprofits in the county, according to its latest tax filing.

It receives most of its funding through state and local government contracts, including 30 separate agreements with San Diego County that total $32 million a year.

CEO Kimberly Bond said the fraud was limited to a single worker.

“The county did a pretty extensive investigation to make sure it wasn’t a systemwide issue,” she said. “The county correctly concluded it was an isolated case. It was one rogue employee.”

The 15-page criminal complaint lays out a sweeping fraud that involved Wilson and 11 outside co-conspirators, who received the checks.

In each case, Wilson directed that checks be issued to specific people — her friends or relatives — for services rendered by the payee under the organization’s Families Forward program.

Families Forward is a $5 million annual program that provides counseling, parenting, substance abuse treatment and other services to thousands of clients.

Many of the services are provided in clients’ homes, Bond said, making it easier to falsify service and billing records.

Unrelated to the criminal case, county health officials in January ordered a series of corrective actions aimed at tightening oversight of Mental Health System programs.

Among other things, the nonprofit was directed to appoint a privacy officer and a compliance officer; improve training; revise its mileage policy; and develop a policy requiring invoices to have unique client identifiers.